On the power of reading to change lives

Words matter. Words influence. Words wound. Words inspire. How we speak, how we write, what we say impacts those around us. The stories that we tell ourselves and those that we share can move mountains or cause harm. Yet, once in a rare while we have an opportunity to save someone through books and the tales that they tell so admirably.

When fate called Holocaust Survivor Helen Fagin, she answered the call inside a concentration camp. She was 21 when she created a clandestine school for children where she gave them lessons in the classics. What soon become clear to her was that what her "students" needed most was the hope and escape that came from something that was forbidden to them ... reading.

In the camps, books were rare. When they did get smuggled in, they were shared quietly and read at night only when there was less chance of getting caught. Nobody was allowed to hold it longer than that. The now 100-year-old spent an entire evening devouring Gone with the Wind, and when the youngsters asked her to "tell us a book" she spent hours reliving the lives and loves of Rhett, Melanie, Scarlett, and Ashley. One of the children who later survived the horrors told Helen that that book saved her life. Here you can listen to Helen detail what happened.

I am grateful that I can read freely, that I can attain any knowledge that I desire through reading, and in 2019 I hope to partake and appreciate it much more. I'm also aware that my own words are potent and that in these days of vitriol taking the kinder route seems always to be the best way to go.

Next year, I wish you gentle words, encouraging tomes, and the wisdom that comes from both. Happy New Year.